It is common to keep domesticated cats almost exclusively indoors. Thus cats are easily trained to relieve themselves in a given location, such as a litter box filled with an absorbent, granular material or “litter.” A conventional cat litter box receives litter into which a cat evacuates, the litter functioning to absorb moisture and form clumps for removal. Unfortunately, keeping the soiled litter inside the litter box is a problem, since cats tend to scratch and shift the litter to cover the eliminated waste, which causes litter to spray out of the cat litter box. Furthermore, litter particles stick to the cat's paws and are thus carried out of the litter tray by the cat into the surrounding room, resulting in the need for frequent cleaning of the room.
Many attempts have been made to keep the litter from the box from spreading around the surrounding room. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,090, issued to Earl W. Cannady, Jr. on Oct. 14, 1997, discloses a SCATTER-RESISTANT LITTER BOX. Cannady presents an enclosed base unit with an opening in one end of the cover unit. A raised ramp below the opening is covered with a carpet like material to trap litter carried on an animal's feet, thereby preventing the litter from being carried from the box. Other solutions are seen in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,277 to Baillie, U.S. Pat. No. 6,371,048 to Smith, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,412,440 to Kobayashi, and in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009/0250014 to Juan.
Despite the wide variety of cat litter box designs that have been developed over the years in an attempt to reduce litter mess, there remains a need for a more effective and economical model. Furthermore, there remains a need for methods of use of new cat litter boxes which will speed acceptance by the cat.